Creating Your First Prepper’s Pantry: 7 Days of Shelf-Stable Breakfasts

Let’s start with the first meal of the day – breakfast – and come up with 7 shelf-stable meals, one for each day of the week. Planning a ‘Prepper’s Pantry’ or as it is generally referred to as long-term food storage is just that simple!    Once you have 7 meals that you and your family like to eat and are simple enough to make (possibly in power outage conditions) you are ready to begin building your food storage 1 meal and 1 week at a time!

I like to err on the side of caution and so I do not assume that fresh dairy, meat and produce will be available.  You can certainly factor in fresh and frozen ingredients or do as I do and plan for shelf-stable ingredients!

Here is my 7-day, shelf-stable, breakfast menu that I store for my family:

Day #1: Oatmeal

You can go a could a couple of ways here.  One, buy a bulk container of instant, single-serve packets of oatmeal or two, buy a large cylinder or bag of oats.  I generally prefer option two as I have more control over how much sugar is in the oatmeal that I make for my children.  If ease of cooking is a consideration for you, you will want the instant oat variety so that all you will need is hot water!  Either way, you will have left-over oatmeal for future weeks!  A cylinder of oats contains about 13 ½-cup servings.

Day #2: Spam Scramble

Begin by whisking 6 tablespoons of powdered eggs together with powdered milk and water.  In a skillet, cook the eggs and then add slices of SPAM to the skillet to heat through.  This will serve 4 people.  Pretty simple and not fancy but it gets people fed.  Consider your family and increase or decrease the amount based on their eating habits.  You could substitute the SPAM for shelf-stable bacon, but it can be a bit pricey. Another option would be to fry up some potatoes.  

If you are just starting out, there are smaller packages of powdered milk and eggs available.  One of the better deals that I’ve come across is from Augason Farms Dried Whole Egg Powder which is about $33 for 2 pounds (72 servings).  I also came across a good deal from Horizon Organic Whole Dry Milk Powder sold at Amazon/Costco for $36 for 1.91 pounds (30 servings).

Day #3: Applesauce Muffins

My kids love eating muffins in the morning!  This recipe can be easily adapted by adding mix-ins such as dried fruit, chocolate chips, or nuts.  Start by mixing the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together.  In another bowl combine the water, powdered milk, powdered eggs, applesauce, and oil.  Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and fill muffins cups ¾ full.  This will make about 10 muffins.  Depending on your family size, make two batches or save the rest for another day!

Day #4: Dry Cereal

Maybe you haven’t had a bowl of cereal in decades. Sometimes this Momma needs a break in the kitchen.  My kids love cereal, although I serve it sparingly. I choose to include it in my long-term food storage rotation because not only will it last a year or so before going bad, but if I really had to fall back and use it to feed my family in an emergency situation, I know I will definitely need a break from cooking.  It is fast, easy and a crowd pleaser. Four people might polish off most of a box of cereal unless you buy a large box.  Don’t forget to factor in powdered milk!

Day #5: Leftover Muffins from Day #3

Yes, that’s right!  Since I went through the work of making muffins, you better believe I doubled that batch.

Day #6: Spam Scramble

We like eggs in this house.  Plan for another day of eggs and SPAM.

Day #7: Just Add Water Pancake Mix

This can be a make-ahead mix that you store in an airtight container for 3 months or so.  All you need is flour, powdered milk, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  When you are ready to make the pancakes, add ¾ cup water to 1 cup of the mix.  This will make 4-5 pancakes.  The total mix recipe makes 30 pancakes or so. 

For all of the detailed instructions and ingredient amounts, you can purchase and print all the details of my pantry stable recipes here: Just the Recipes.  Just the Recipes includes 7 breakfast recipes, 7 lunch recipes, 14 dinner recipes, and 18 other dessert, drink, and snacks recipes. 

If planning all the details is not for you, check out the Complete Meal Planner program that I designed to do all the hard work for you.  You choose the meals you like, and your pantry/shopping list is created for you!  All of the recipes are designed with shelf-stable ingredients.  I also include fresh substitutions if you have these on hand.  Check out how it works here: How it Works.

Check back soon as I plan to share with you a simple lunch and dinner weekly menu of shelf-stable meals in the future!